


The Prince Needs a Hug

by I_ran_out_of_books



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Boys In Love, Fluff, Hugs, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Oblivious Arthur, Oblivious Merlin, One Shot, Self-Indulgent, Short & Sweet, The show needed more hugs, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-19
Updated: 2019-01-19
Packaged: 2019-10-12 19:54:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17473961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/I_ran_out_of_books/pseuds/I_ran_out_of_books
Summary: "Merlin! What do you think you're doing?" Arthur stood stock still, confused into a paralyzed shock."I'm giving you a hug," Merlin said matter of factly and refused to budge.(If you've been reading lots of sad Merthur and you need some happiness this'll patch you up a bit.)





	The Prince Needs a Hug

**Author's Note:**

> Set in a time when they were younger and less burdened and therefore prone to give in to their child-like silliness from time to time.

Arthur walked into his chambers, his shoulders dropping immediately and his feet dragging across the stones. He had kept up a good royal pretense on his walk back from the meeting with his father, but as soon as he stepped through that threshold the mask vanished. Uther had once again tried to persuade the prince to marry the daughter of a rivaling king. He said the marriage would guarantee peace between the two kingdoms, and that Camelot would not fair well if they had to go to war at the moment. 

Arthur was used to dealing with his fathers subtle suggestions that he take a wife and start building a family for the sake of the kingdom but this time around any subtly was tossed out of the window. 

"Is everything alright, sire?" Merlin asked seemingly absentmindedly as he folded Arthur's shirts into neat squares. 

"My father is pressuring me to marry again." Arthur crossed the room to stand imperiously next to Merlin. Without a word Merlin stopped his task and came to rid Arthur of his cape. 

"Don't fret too much, Arthur. I'm sure once the princess meets you she'll run away screaming, and you won't have to marry anyone at all," Merlin supplied with badly hidden amusement.

"Oi! She should be so lucky to have me!" Arthur smacked Merlin upside the head. To Arthur's displeasure Merlin simply chuckled as he rid Arthur of his overly stiff court clothes. 

"I'm sure she would, sire, if she liked prats who beat their poor defenseless servants." 

Now it was Arthur's turn to chuckle. Already he was feeling better. It could be very challenging keeping up a facade of total calm and contentedness in front of his father and the people of the castle when all he wanted was to explode with very valid reasons for why his father couldn't just whore him out to every neighboring kingdom that visited. And maybe he had said that out loud in a moment of weakness because now Merlin was staring at him like a deer being caught in the forest. 

Merlin stood stiffly in his spot as he looked into Arthur's eyes. Arthur could see a million thoughts and calculations running through his servant's mind at the moment. Alright, he had to fix this and fix it now because he didn't need Merlin of all people laughing at him for his weaknesses. Suddenly Merlin lunged forward cutting off Arthur thought process. Merlin's body was pressed firmly against his own and his arms wrapped securely around his shoulders. Merlin's head rested against his own, cheek to temple. What was this!? Some kind of attack? "Merlin! What do you think you're doing?" Arthur stood stock still, confused into a paralyzed shock. 

"I'm giving you a hug," Merlin said matter of factly and refused to budge. 

A hug ... huh ... this is new, thought Arthur. "Princes don't need hugs," Arthur informed Merlin and attempted to push him away. Merlin was stronger than he looked. Arthur felt like he was being suffocated to death by a beast with a million limbs. 

"Yes they do. Everyone needs hugs." Merlin added a brief squeeze to the embrace. Arthur's shoulders were so tense he though something might rupture. 

"Well I don't! How could anyone like these dreadful things?" Arthur's shoulders had begun to droop and his head rested a little more heavily against Merlin's. Merlin was quite warm actually. Now that he thought about it this felt less like being suffocated by a beast with too many limbs and a little more like being wrapped in his lush blankets on a cold morning. 

He heard a dramatic sigh come from Merlin and the boy finally let up. He unwrapped Arthur from the embrace and pulled away. Arthur was suddenly very cold and too alone. "You're a giant prat, you know that? Let's hope your wife hates hugs too." Merlin huffed as he walked away to tidy up Arthur's writing desk. 

Arthur mumbled something unintelligible as a response. Merlin sighed heavily, "what?"

"No one," he said and then mumbled the rest of his sentence again. 

Merlin whirled around with mild irritation to find the prince looking down at the stones like a chastised child. He shuffled ever so slightly and paid an unnatural amount of attention to his shoes. "I'm sorry, sire, I can't hear you." 

Without looking up Arthur spoke again only a decibel louder than before. "No one ... has ever hugged me before," he rushed out the rest of the sentence like a little boy confessing to eating a pastry he wasn't supposed to. Something about the sight and the comment made Merlin's heart fill with a sorrowful warmth. "That explains a lot," Merlin teased lightly, "It's no wonder you're such a prat." Arthur huffed a small laugh at that and some of the tension seemed to leave his body. 

"Can I ... can I have another hug, Merlin?" Arthur asked shyly, his face growing redder by the second. It made Merlin laugh, Arthur never seemed to have any quarrels about asking for anything and everything he wanted but he looked like he would spontaneously combust from embarrassment after asking for a hug. It made Merlin's heart beat faster. Strange. 

"Don't laugh at me, Merlin!" Arthur scolded. "Forget I asked," he said some of the mask he used around everyone else slipping back on.

"Oh no you don't! Stop getting all sulky with me and come get your hug!" Merlin demanded with arms open wide. The flush came back to Arthur's face and he was really starting to regret his momentary madness. This was too strange! Hugging was not what strong and powerful royals did, much less with one of their dopey servants. And Merlin really did look dopey with his gangly arms and goofy grin as he waited for Arthur. 

"Actually, I think I might just go train. The meeting ran long and I was only there briefly this morn-" and then his excuse was being muffled by his head being squished into Merlin's neck. Arthur half-heartedly struggled against Merlin mostly for his pride and gave in when Merlin began to shush him like he was a spooked horse. He was not a spooked horse! Merlin pulled back ever so slightly to grab Arthur's dead arms and wrap them around his torso. Then he wrapped his own arms back around Arthur and rested his head on Arthur's shoulder. A bear hug was the term that came to mind. Arthur would never outright admit it but it filled him with joy. It was like Merlin was everywhere and it made him forget all about his terrible day, there was only warmth and safety here. 

Merlin couldn't stop smiling as he felt Arthur relax into the embrace. He melted against Merlin and his arms tightened ever so slowly as he gave into the hug. Merlin didn't want to push his luck and so he untangled himself from Arthur and stepped back with a warm smile on his face. "See? Even princes need hugs." Merlin had a growing suspicion his cheeks were as pink as Arthur's. 

Arthur huffed and rolled his eyes as if the notion was ridiculous. "You always do say such nonsense. One of these days we'll have to go to Giaus and find out what type of mental affliction you have." 

Merlin laughed freely at the insult as he returned to Arthur's writing desk and began sifting through the pages and putting them in order. He decided not to tease Arthur further and thought in the future he would happily take more insults if he got to hug Arthur. 

And it seemed his wish came true because after that day Merlin became Arthur's sole supplier for hugs. It was their shared secret which they never spoke about, never even to tease each other with. It was too sacred and tender a thing to joke about it seemed. And if poorly hidden grins and stuttering hearts were an unexpected and confusing side effect of their hugs, well neither of them dwelled on it much.


End file.
